A group of venture capitalists have put $260 million into a new Shanghai biotechnology firm, Brii BioSciences, that will develop new medicines exclusively for the Chinese market. "The company I am trying to build is only going to do China," says Brii Chief Executive Zhi Hong. The new company will be focused not on drug discovery but on clinical trials, regulatory approvals, and commercialization.

Pfizer (PFE) reported a 1% growth in revenues to $12.9 billion in the first quarter compared to $12.8 billion in the first quarter of 2017. It surpassed Wall Street analysts’ estimate for EPS but missed the revenue estimate. It reported EPS of $0.77 on revenues of $12.9 billion compared to the EPS estimate of $0.74 on revenues of $13.1 billion.

The World Health Organization has started to vaccinate thousands of people considered at high risk of contacting the infectious and often-deadly disease Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The WHO said Monday it is working with NGOs and community leaders to administer an experimental vaccine that was studied in a trial in Guinea in 2015, but has not yet been used to contain a major outbreak. Most are in a remote town, but there are four confirmed cases in Mbandaka, the provincial capital which has a population of more than 1 million people.

U.S. and European regulators said they were assessing evidence that GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.L) HIV drug dolutegravir might be linked to serious birth defects, casting a shadow over a medicine that has been a key profit driver in recent years. Friday's move by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) follows preliminary data from a study in Botswana which found four cases of neural tube defects in babies born to mothers who became pregnant while taking the drug.

U.S. and European regulators said they were assessing evidence that GlaxoSmithKline's HIV drug dolutegravir might be linked to serious birth defects, casting a shadow over a medicine that has been a key profit driver in recent years. Friday's move by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) follows preliminary data from a study in Botswana which found four cases of neural tube defects in babies born to mothers who became pregnant while taking the drug.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) is putting more marketing muscle behind its new lung drugs and is looking for a sales boost as top respiratory experts gather to analyse clinical trials data at a meeting in San Diego this weekend. The British drugmaker has dominated the lung drug market for decades, but its pre-eminence is no longer guaranteed, given declining sales of the ageing Advair inhaler, which could soon face generic competition in the United States. The market is also seeing intensified pricing pressure, raising doubts over the long-term profitability of newer drugs.

GlaxoSmithKline is putting more marketing muscle behind its new lung drugs and is looking for a sales boost as top respiratory experts gather to analyse clinical trials data at a meeting in San Diego this weekend. The British drugmaker has dominated the lung drug market for decades, but its pre-eminence is no longer guaranteed, given declining sales of the ageing Advair inhaler, which could soon face generic competition in the United States. The market is also seeing intensified pricing pressure, raising doubts over the long-term profitability of newer drugs.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc is cutting finance and accounting positions while bringing in people with cancer and science backgrounds as the U.K.’s biggest drug company shifts spending to develop its best new treatments. The new strategy has led to a “reasonable number” of job cuts, said Luke Miels, president of the London-based company’s global pharmaceutical division, declining to quantify them. Glaxo at the same time is increasing the number of medical science liaisons, specialists who establish relationships with top doctors, as well other roles, he said in an interview.

The ability to sell new drugs hinges on approvals from government bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a result, biotech companies, and to some degree, large drug companies, go into business ventures without the certainty of ever earning revenues, let alone profits. Biotech stocks often become some of the most difficult to evaluate.

Novartis (NVS) is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide. AveXis (AVXS) is a US-based clinical-stage gene therapy company. On May 15, Novartis announced that it completed the acquisition of AveXis.

Analysts expect AstraZeneca (AZN) to report EPS (earnings per share) of $0.60 on revenue of $5.3 billion in the first quarter, a 2.3% fall compared to its revenue of $5.4 billion during the first quarter of 2017. AstraZeneca’s stock price has risen nearly 7.1% over the last 12 months and ~4.9% year-to-date.

AstraZeneca’s (AZN) Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease (or CVMD) segment includes various products such as Brilinta, Farxiga, Bydureon, Byetta, Onglyza, and Symlin and legacy products such as Atacand, Crestor, and Seloken.

AstraZeneca (AZN) is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies that deals with primary care and specialty care products. Though it’s headquartered in London, England, the company reports its revenue in US dollars. The company is set to release its 1Q18 earnings on May 18.

In 1Q18, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) recorded non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) EPS (earnings per share) of $0.94 and net income of $954 million. The company made net non-GAAP adjustments of $101 million in 1Q18. Teva recorded $612 million of impairments in 1Q18 related to its US intangible assets due to the fair value revaluation of Actavis generics products, which were acquired in 2016, and goodwill impairment charges related to its Rimsa reporting unit due to the change in allocated net assets to the unit and the impact of the change in the weighted average cost of capital by ~0.5%.

In 1Q18, Merck’s (MRK) hospital specialty product, Bridion, reported global sales close to $204 million, which is a year-over-year (or YoY) rise of 38%. Since its launch in 2016, this product has managed to attain a significant share of the neuromuscular blockade reversal market. In 1Q18, Merck’s vaccines portfolio reported global sales close to $1.5 billion, which is a year-over-year (or YoY) rise of 4.3%.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Britain's biggest drugmaker, faces more top management change with Chief Financial Officer Simon Dingemans set to retire next year. The former Goldman Sachs investment banker, who joined in 2011, will step down from the board in May 2019, the company said on Wednesday. Dingemans' departure provides a further opportunity for Chief Executive Emma Walmsley to stamp her imprint on the group as she tries to boost sales and improve productivity in the core pharmaceuticals division.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Britain's biggest drugmaker, faces more top management change with Chief Financial Officer Simon Dingemans set to retire next year. The former Goldman Sachs investment banker, who joined in 2011, will step down from the board in May 2019, the company said on Wednesday. Dingemans' departure provides a further opportunity for Chief Executive Emma Walmsley to stamp her imprint on the group as she tries to boost sales and improve productivity in the core pharmaceuticals division.

In 1Q18, Merck’s (MRK) human vaccines business saw its total revenue grow 4.2% YoY (year-over-year) to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion. Its Gardasil franchise includes vaccines used to prevent strains of sexually transmitted HPV (human papillomavirus) infections that cause genital warts and have been linked with cervical, vulvar, anal, penile, and vaginal cancer.